Change Your Image
robertsrebecca-76703
Reviews
The Good Shepherd (2006)
Great thriller directed by Robert De Niro
Directed by Robert De Niro, the Good Shepherd is a great character study as well as a thriller. This is great direction by De Niro here. At its heart this is a fictionalized account of the birth and early years of the CIA. While the names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent, many of the characters have real-life counterparts. The lengthy movie (15 minutes shy of three hours) unspools like a cold war spy novel, with betrayals, double-crosses, triple-crosses, and fluid allegiances. The protagonist isn't the most sympathetic individual to reach the screen, but the vortex of moral and ethical uncertainties in which he becomes caught makes him an intriguing, although not likeable, individual. The length is a drawback (almost 3 hours), but not a big one since the movie earns the majority of its 165-minute running time. De Niro pulls the viewer into the world he has created and holds him there, sometimes spellbound.
Nashville (1975)
Altman's masterpiece
Robert Altman is a maverick master filmmaker and Nashville is often considered his magnus opus. Nashville has two backdrops. The first is the city, with its rich musical heritage. The second is one of America's dirtiest and most favorite games - politics. The film takes place in the days preceding the Tennessee presidential primary. In this cauldron of music and politics, Altman mixes a stew that contains two-dozen significant characters. Nashville isn't one long story; it's an interweaving of many shorter ones. And, though there are many minor intersection points, it isn't until the finale, which takes place at a Hal Phillip Walker rally, when all of the principals come together. Until then, they are living out their lives in close proximity to each other, but without impacting anyone except those in their immediate circles. Altman proves that it is possible to develop sympathy for a diverse group of individuals in only a short time. Most of the characters have less than 20 minutes of screen time, yet, after only a scene or two with each of them, we develop an emotional investment in their future.
Daddy Day Care (2003)
Eddie's slide continues
If nothing else, Daddy Day Care proves what a rare find the motion picture Holes is - a family film that's made with every member of the family in mind, not just those still in diapers. This is one of those nearly unwatchable movies that becomes an endurance contest for any thinking adult. The comedy - or what passes for it - consists of lame, predictable jokes that would be rejected by many mediocre sit-coms. (If you chuckle twice, you will have a better time than I did.) The sentimentality, which at times reaches unbearable levels, is saccharine and cloying. If you are a fan of Eddie Murphy better avoid this.
The Devil's Own (1997)
A film that could have been so much more than what it ended up being
The Devil's Own had a lot of production issues and the stars downright disowned the film but its an okay film starring A listers Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt and directed by 70s maverick Alan J Pakula. The thriller aspects are subdued though the quieter moments between characters such as when Pitt visits Ford's family are quite good. The critics at the time criticized the film for getting the historical accuracies wrong but then what do you expect in a medium such as film which is meant to entertain first.
Society (1989)
One of the strangest films I've ever seen
I don't remember much about society, but I do remember some strange and bizarre scenes including an absolutely surreal ending in which an entire bunch of 50 odd people indulge in a cannibalistic orgy! If it sounds strange watching it was even more so. The director and lead actors are all but forgotten today but this film stands the test of time- although not many people know about it. I suggest you give this one a change and see if you can like it.